Scheduling and printer distribution: how SimplyPrint assigns prints

Scheduling and printer distribution: how SimplyPrint assigns prints


When SimplyPrint picks which queue item to start next, and which printer to start it on, it follows a set of rules you control. This article explains the scheduling and printer distribution settings that drive 1-Click Print and AutoPrint, plus the working-hours rule shared with Quick Queue, so the queue behaves the way your farm or classroom actually works. It is part of the wider print queue.


The print queue is part of the Pro plan and up. Scheduling and printer distribution settings apply on every plan that includes the queue.


One set of rules covers both 1-Click Print and AutoPrint. The backburner working-hours option also covers Quick Queue, so low-priority work stays out of the way while your team is in the office.


In this article


Where these settings live

You will find all of these options under Settings > Queue, in the "Scheduling & distribution" section (the direct path is /panel/settings/queue). They sit alongside the rest of the queue settings.


The key thing to understand is that this one section controls the assignment engine shared by both 1-Click Print and AutoPrint. 1-Click Print is the manual matcher you trigger with a button; AutoPrint runs the same logic automatically as printers free up. Quick Queue also reads the working-hours backburner option described below.


Item scheduling: sequential vs round-robin

The item scheduling mode controls the order in which queue items are assigned to printers when an item has more than one copy. There are two modes.


Sequential keeps preferring the first eligible item until its copies are assigned, then moves to the second item, the third, and so on. A later item can still be considered when the earlier one cannot run on an available printer, is paused, has reached its concurrency limit or is otherwise ineligible. This is the default and clears eligible items from the queue one at a time, top to bottom.


Round-robin assigns one copy of each item at a time and cycles through: one copy of item 1, one copy of item 2, one copy of item 3, then back to item 1 for its next copy. Instead of draining one item before starting the next, it spreads early copies across all the items near the top of the queue.


When to use each

Use sequential when items are independent and you just want them done in order - the typical "work through the list" farm or shop setup.


Use round-robin when a set of parts should finish at roughly the same time. A good example is a multi-part assembly or a kit: if you need every part of a model before any of it is useful, round-robin gets a first copy of each part going early, so the whole set lands together rather than one part being finished hours before the last one even starts.


Printer distribution: which printer gets the job

Once SimplyPrint has decided which item to start, printer distribution decides which of the eligible printers actually runs it. All three options only ever pick from printers that can run the item (right filament, nozzle, bed and so on) - distribution just breaks the tie between several valid printers.


By printer position is the default. It follows the order your printers appear on your printers page (first group first, then the next group, and so on). Work fills from the top of that list down, which keeps assignment predictable and easy to reason about.


Randomized picks a compatible printer at random rather than always favouring the ones at the top of the list.


Least recently used prioritises the eligible printer that has not printed in the longest time. This helps spread work across your compatible printers instead of always favouring the first few.


If you have a large fleet and want to avoid always starting work on the first eligible printer, least recently used is the most predictable choice.


Process queue groups fully before the next group

If you organise your queue into groups, this toggle decides whether the assignment engine drains one group before touching the next.


When it is on, matching considers items group by group (for example A1, A2, A3, then B1, B2, then C1). An item that cannot run on an available printer may still be skipped in favour of a compatible item from a later group unless Never skip queue items is enabled. When the setting is off, items from different groups can interleave as printers become free.


Turn it on when your groups represent a real priority order - finish everything in the "rush orders" group before starting "stock prints". Turn it off when your groups are just an organisational split and you want all of them progressing at once.


Exclude backburner items from automatic matching

The backburner is a secondary, low-priority lane for filler work such as prototypes, test prints or stock that can wait. There are two ways to control when SimplyPrint uses it.


  • Exclude backburner items from automatic matching keeps them out of 1-Click Print and AutoPrint at all times. They stay parked until you start them manually.
  • Only print backburner items outside working hours keeps them out of 1-Click Print, AutoPrint and Quick Queue while your account is inside its configured working hours. After hours, 1-Click Print and AutoPrint may use backburner items when no normal-priority item matches, while Quick Queue shows compatible backburner items again alongside normal items.


The working-hours option is part of the Print Farm plan and up because it uses your account schedule, timezone, special-date hours and temporary working-hours overrides. It is useful for an office where prototypes and test prints should have first claim on the printers during staffed hours, while lower-volume production can fill otherwise idle machines overnight.


These settings do not block a normal manual start from the queue item itself. The working-hours option does apply to Quick Queue, so its printer picker will leave backburner items out until the active working period ends.


Never skip queue items

By default, if the next item in the queue cannot run on any free printer right now (wrong filament loaded, wrong nozzle, and so on), SimplyPrint moves past it to the next item a printer can actually print. That keeps printers busy, but it means a blocking item can get leapfrogged again and again.


When never skip queue items is on, printers will not skip past items they cannot print. Instead of jumping ahead to the next matching item, a printer waits until the blocking item is fixed or removed - for example until you load the right filament or change the nozzle.


How it pairs with the to-do list

"Never skip" only makes sense if you have a fast way to see what is blocking each printer, and that is exactly what the to-do list is for. The to-do list evaluates up to the first 500 eligible queue items and tells you which high-impact changes would unlock the most prints right now - put PLA in this printer, swap that nozzle, refill that spool. With "never skip" on, the queue holds position and respects your intended order; the to-do list tells you which physical change to make so the held item can finally start.


If you would rather keep every printer running at all costs and sort out blockers later, leave "never skip" off so the queue keeps flowing past anything that cannot start yet.


This setting caps how many of the top queue items the automatic sort is allowed to reorder. It is a sort-scope limit, not a search-depth limit: only the items inside the cap can be rearranged by automatic sorting, and any item beyond the limit keeps its existing order. It does not stop a printer from considering work lower down - the matcher always scans the whole list to find something a free printer can run; the cap only constrains how far the automatic reordering reaches.


You can express the limit three ways:

  • A fixed number of positions (for example, only sort the first 20 items).
  • A percentage of the queue (for example, only sort the top 25 percent).
  • Both at once - when you set both, the smaller of the two wins, so the sort never reaches past whichever limit is tighter.


Leave the field empty for unlimited, which lets automatic sorting reorder the entire queue.


When "Never skip queue items" is on, the Max-queue-positions inputs are disabled in the settings page. Turn never-skip off if you need to change a previously saved limit.



For a wider look at how matching works, see the 1-Click Print and AutoPrint feature pages. If you stagger starts to avoid drawing too much power at once, see staggered start. Plan details are on the pricing page.

Updated on: 02/09/2026

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